St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia - Lonely Planet © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap contributors At the southern end of Red Square stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination of a style that is unique to Russian architecture. In 1552 Ivan the Terrible captured the Tatar stronghold of Kazan on the Feast of Intercession. He commissioned this landmark church, officially the Intercession Cathedral, to commemorate the victory. Created from 1555 to 1561, this masterpiece would become the ultimate symbol of Russia. The cathedral’s apparent anarchy of shapes hides a comprehensible plan of nine main chapels. The tall, tent-roofed tower in the centre houses the namesake Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God. The four biggest domes top four octagonal-towered chapels: the Church of Sts Cyprian & Justina, Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of the Icon of St Nicholas the Miracle Worker, and the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Finally, there are four smaller chapels in between.

Each chapel was consecrated in honour of an event or battle in the struggle against Kazan. Legend has it that Ivan had the architects blinded so that they could never build anything comparable. This is a myth, however, as records show that they were employed a quarter of a century later (and four years after Ivan’s death) to add an additional chapel to the structure. About Moscow. Red Square. Red Square The Kremlin Red Square, that familiar bricked expanse in the heart of Moscow, is located just outside the Kremlin, along its eastern wall. Think of Red Square and you'll undoubtedly recall pictures of those May Day parades, from the years when the Soviet Military displayed its might, respectfully passing before the Soviet leadership atop Lenin's tomb. But Red Square's history stretches back way before the Communist Soviet Union, back to the days of Czarist Russia. In the late 15th century, people came to this square, called Torg or market square, to purchase food, livestock, or other wares. By the late 16th century, it was renamed Trinity Square and served as the main entrance to the Kremlin.

It wasn't until 1650 that it received the name Krasnaya Ploschad, krasnaya meaning both beautiful and red. The Red Square of today is more than 500,000 square feet of open land. The Kremlin The Red Square is a place where people gather to celebrate official state events, to be photographed in front of favorite sites, or just to drink in the historic splendor. St. Basil's Cathedral at the southern end of Red Square, sits just outside the Kremlin. The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed also sits just outside the Kremlin. This is perhaps one of the most familiar and glorious sites associated with Moscow and the Kremlin. In 1552, Czar Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, commissioned two Russian architects to build a magnificent cathedral in celebration of the Russian victory over the Tartars. The architects clustered together eight individual churches, each with its own cupola or dome, around one central belfry to create this cathedral. Each church was dedicated to the saint on whose feast day the eight major victories over the Tartars were won. Today, St. Basil's is part of the State Historical Museum.

The Red Square and Mausoleum The Red Square and Mausoleum's interior is undergoing restoration. Luckily, its spectacular exterior is there for all to see. Vladimir Lenin's Mausoleum on the western edge of Red Square, nestled up against the exterior of the Kremlin wall, stands as a monument to the founder of the Soviet Union. Following his death in 1924, Lenin's embalmed body was placed in a temporary wooden mausoleum after government offices were flooded with telegrams requesting the construction of a shrine to the illustrious revolutionary. Although Lenin had clearly indicated his desire not to be immortalized, the temporary structure was replaced in 1929 with the granite and black labradorite version seen today. Each year, thousands of people line up for the opportunity to view Lenin in his glass-enclosed bier and to watch the hourly ritual of the changing of the guard. Copyright © 2000-2006 Kremlin :: Red Square --� Kids Encyclopedia | Children's Homework Help | Kids Online Dictionary | Britannica The east wall of the Kremlin is along Red Square, with the State Historical Museum on the left, the Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Along the east wall of the Kremlin lies Red Square, the ceremonial center of Moscow and, through the years, the scene of executions, demonstrations, riots, parades, and speeches. In the shadow of the Kremlin walls stands the Lenin Mausoleum, the burial place of the leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917 (see Lenin ). At the southern end of Red Square is the Cathedral of the Intercession (Pokrovsky Sobor), better known as the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed. Built by the Russian architects Barma and Posnik Yakovlev from 1554 to 1560 to commemorate Ivan the Terrible 's defeat of the Mongols (Tatars) of Kazan and Astrakhan, it is a unique and magnificent architectural fantasy, each of its 10 domes differing in design and color. Along Red Square facing the Kremlin is the State Department Store, GUM, an enormous shopping mall housed in a building built from 1889 to 1893. The slightly earlier State Historical Museum (187583) closes off the northern end of the square. "Kremlin." Compton's by Britannica.

Britannica Online for Kids. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., , from While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Close Enable free complete viewings of premium articles from Britannica Online for Kids when linked from your website or blog-post. Now readers of your website, blog-post, or any other web content can enjoy full access to this article on Kremlin , or any other Britannica Online for Kids premium article for free, even if they do not have a membership. Just copy the HTML code fragment provided below to create the link and then paste it within your web content. For more details about this feature, visit our Webmaster and Blogger Tools page. . Copy and paste this code into your page Red Square - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Origins of Red Square and Its Name Many medieval Russian cities built kremlins, or fortresses, to protect themselves from invaders. The original Kremlin in Moscow began in 1156 as a wooden structure north of the Moskva River.

As Muscovite power and wealth expanded by the late 1400s, Prince Ivan III ordered the area now known as Red Square–which at the time was a slum or shantytown housing poor peasants and criminals–cleared. Ivan the Great, as he was known, built the Kremlin into its most splendid form yet, bringing in Italian architects to build new fortified stone walls and structures such as the Cathedral of the Assumption (also known as the Cathedral of the Dormition). Did You Know? Throughout the Soviet era, armed members of the Kremlin Regiment guarded Lenin's tomb, and the changing of the guard outside the mausoleum became one of the most recognizable features of Red Square. Contrary to popular misconception, Red Square’s name is completely unrelated to the crimson color of its numerous buildings as well as to the Communist Party’s association with the color red. In its earliest incarnation, Red Square was known as Trinity Square, in honor of Trinity Cathedral, which stood on its southern end during the rule of Ivan III.

From the 17th century onward, however, Russians began calling the square by its current name, “Krasnaya Ploschad.” The name is derived from the word krasnyi, which meant beautiful in Old Russian and only later came to mean red. Red Square: A Center of Russian Life Czar Ivan IV (known as Ivan the Terrible) ordered the construction of a cathedral on Red Square’s southeast end in 1554 to honor his capture of the Mongol stronghold of Kazan. Though it was officially named the Church of the Intercession, the structure was better known as the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed (or simply St. Basil’s) for its association with a poor prophet who foretold the Moscow fire of 1547. With its plethora of domes, towers, cupolas, spires and arches, St. Basil’s remains one of the most recognizable buildings in Russia. Over the centuries, Red Square served the function of a central marketplace as well as a meeting place for the Muscovite masses.

The square saw countless speeches, demonstrations, parades and other large gatherings, many of which centered on a white stone platform built in the 16th century and known as Lobnoye Mesto. The czars would take to the platform to deliver their annual messages to the Russian people, while those who defied the royal will (particularly during the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great) were executed in Red Square in front of large crowds. Red Square From the 20th Century On In 1930, six years after the death of Vladimir Lenin , leader of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and architect of the Soviet state, his remains were interred in a granite mausoleum on the western edge of Red Square. That same year, a monument honoring Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, whose armies defeated a Polish invasion in 1612, was moved from in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral to the center of the square. In the first half of the 20th century, Red Square became famous as the site of official military parades and demonstrations intended to display the strength of Soviet armed forces.

In a dramatic display on November 7, 1941, lines of soldiers marched beside Soviet tanks directly from Moscow to the front during World War II , then only 50 kilometers away. Even after the fall of the Soviet Union, Red Square remains an important center of Russia’s cultural life and a top tourist destination. In 1990, UNESCO designated Red Square as one of its World Heritage sites. The enormous GUM Department Store (the acronym GUM stood for State Universal Store), a symbol of the Soviet era that covers the square’s entire eastern end, is now marketed as a high-end shopping destination. At the northern end, the distinctive red brick State Historical Museum (built in 1873-75) is filled with the best of Russian history and art. And while fewer people may be lining up outside Lenin’s tomb, the crowds continue to flock to Red Square for rock concerts, festivals and other events. Tags Moscow’s Red Square - Lonely Planet Moscow’s Red Square Lonely Planet Writer Stepping onto Red Square never ceases to inspire. For starters, the vast rectangular stretch of cobblestones, surrounded by architectural marvels, is an imposing sight.

In fact, in old Russian krasny was the word for ‘beautiful’, and the square lives up to the original meaning of its name. Furthermore, it evokes an incredible sense of awe to stroll across a place where so much of Russian history unfolded. State History Museum on the Red Square. Image by Walter Bibikow / Getty Images The square’s history Red Square used to be a market square adjoining the merchants’ area in Kitay Gorod . It has always been a place where occupants of the Kremlin chose to congregate, celebrate and castigate for all the people to see. Back in the day, Red Square was the top spot for high-profile executions such as those of the Cossack rebel Stepan Razin in 1671 and the Streltsy (Peter the Great’s mutinous palace guard) in 1698. The first gateway, built in 1680, was destroyed because Stalin thought it an impediment to the parades and demonstrations held in Red Square. The present-day exact replica was built in 1995. Through the gateway is the bright Chapel of the Iverian Virgin, originally built in the late 18th century to house the icon of the same name.

Soviet rulers chose Red Square for their military parades, perhaps most poignantly on 7 November 1941, when tanks rolled straight off to the frontline outside Moscow ; and during the Cold War, when lines of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missile) rumbled across the square to remind the West of Soviet military might. On Victory Day in 2008, tanks rolled across Red Square for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nowadays Red Square is closed to traffic, which means the space is filled with tourists, bridal parties and businesspeople snapping photos and marvelling at their surroundings. The square empties out at night, but this is also when it is at its most atmospheric. The Kremlin towers and St Basil’s domes, illuminated by floodlights and set against the night sky, create a spectacular panorama (even better in person than on a postcard). Lenin's Tomb, Senate Tower and the Senate, Red Square. Image by Jonathan Smith / Getty Images Lenin’s Mausoleum Red Square is also home to the world’s most famous mummy : that of Vladimir Ilych Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union.

When he died of a massive stroke on 22 January 1924 (aged 53), a long line of mourners patiently gathered in the depths of winter for weeks to glimpse the body as it lay in state. Inspired by the spectacle, Stalin proposed that the father of Soviet communism should continue to serve the cause as a holy relic. So the decision was made to preserve Lenin’s corpse for perpetuity, against the vehement protests of his widow, as well as Lenin’s own expressed desire to be buried next to his mother in St Petersburg. Other communist leaders such as Josef Stalin are buried at the Kremlin Wall. St Basil’s Cathedral and GUM shopping centre at twilight. Image by Kapuk Dodds / Getty Images St Basil’s Cathedral At the southern end of Red Square, framed by the massive facades of the Kremlin and GUM , stands the icon of Russia: St Basil’s Cathedral . This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination of a style that is unique to Russian architecture. Before St Basil’s, this style of tent roofs and onion domes had been used to design wooden churches. In 1552 Ivan the Terrible captured the Tatar stronghold of Kazan on the feast of Intercession.

He commissioned this landmark church, officially the Intercession Cathedral, to commemorate the victory. From 1555 to 1561 architects Postnik and Barma created this masterpiece that would become the ultimate postcard-perfect symbol of Russia. The cathedral’s apparent anarchy of shapes hides a comprehensible plan of nine main chapels: the tall, tent-roofed one in the centre; four big, octagonal-towered ones, topped with the four biggest domes; and four smaller ones in between. Legend has it that Ivan had the architects blinded so they could never build anything comparable to this iconic building. This is a myth, however, as records show that they were employed a quarter of a century later (and four years after Ivan’s death) to add an additional chapel to the structure. BBC - Travel - Moscow's Red Square Moscow's Red Square By Mara Vorhees 3 August 2010 Red Square is a guaranteed awe-striker. For starters, the vast rectangular stretch of cobblestones, surrounded by architectural marvels, is jaw-dropping gorgeous.

In fact, in old Russian “krasny” was the word for “beautiful”; and it does live up to the original meaning of its name (Krasnaya pl). Further, it evokes an incredible sense of import to stroll across a place where so much of Russian history unfolded. Related article: Lonely Planet's top 10 Moscow attractions Red Square used to be a market square adjoining the merchants' area in Kitay Gorod. It has always been a place where occupants of the Kremlin chose to congregate, celebrate and castigate for all the people to see. Back in the day, Red Square was the top spot for high profile executions such as the Cossack rebel Stepan Razin in 1671 and the Streltsy (Peter the Great's mutinous palace guard) in 1698. Soviet rulers chose Red Square for their military parades, perhaps most poignantly on 7 November 1941, when tanks rolled straight off to the frontline outside Moscow; and during the Cold War, when lines of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missile) rumbled across the square to remind the West of Soviet military might.

On Victory Day in 2008, tanks rolled across Red Square for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Red Square is closed to traffic, which means the square is filled with tourists, bridal parties and business people snapping photos and marvelling at their surroundings. The square empties out at night, but this is when the square is most atmospheric. The Kremlin towers and St Basil's domes, illuminated by floodlights and set against the night sky, create a spectacular panorama (even better in person than on a postcard). The first gateway, built in 1680, was destroyed because Stalin thought it an impediment to the parades and demonstrations held in Red Square. This exact replica was built in 1995. Through the gateway is the bright Chapel of the Iverian Virgin, originally built in the late 18th Century to house the icon of the same name. Red Square is also home to the world's most famous mummy, that of Vladimir Ilych Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union.

When he died of a massive stroke on 22 January 1924, aged 53, a long line of mourners patiently gathered in the depths of winter for weeks to glimpse the body as it lay in state. Inspired by the spectacle, Stalin proposed that the father of Soviet communism should continue to serve the cause as a holy relic. So the decision was made to preserve Lenin's corpse for perpetuity, against the vehement protests of his widow, as well as Lenin's own expressed desire to be buried next to his mother in St Petersburg. Other Communist heavy-hitters such as Josef Stalin are buried at the Kremlin Wall. At the southern end of Red Square, framed by the massive facades of the Kremlin and GUM, stands the icon of Russia: St Basil's Cathedral. This crazy confusion of colours, patterns and shapes is the culmination of a style that is unique to Russian architecture. Before St Basil's, this style of tent roofs and onion domes had been used to design wooden churches. In 1552 Ivan the Terrible captured the Tatar stronghold of Kazan on the feast of Intercession. He commissioned this landmark church, officially the Intercession Cathedral, to commemorate the victory.

From 1555 to 1561 architects Postnik and Barma created this masterpiece that would become the ultimate symbol of Russia. The cathedral's apparent anarchy of shapes hides a comprehensible plan of nine main chapels: the tall, tent-roofed one in the centre; four big, octagonal-towered ones, topped with the four biggest domes; and four smaller ones in between. Legend has it that Ivan had the architects blinded so they could never build anything comparable. This is a myth, however, as records show that they were employed a quarter of a century later (and four years after Ivan's death) to add an additional chapel to the structure. The misnomer St Basil's actually refers only to this extra northeastern chapel. It was built over the grave of the barefoot holy fool Vasily (Basil) the Blessed, who predicted Ivan's damnation. Vasily, who died while Kazan was under siege, was buried beside the church that St Basil's soon replaced. He was later canonised.

Icon of Elegance: Moscow's Red Square - The Official Globe Trekker Website Search Icon of Elegance: Moscow’s Red Square Red Square, that familiar bricked expanse in the heart of Moscow is located just outside the Kremlin... History Facts Where: East of the Kremlin, Moscow, capital of Russia in North Eastern Europe When: Became a public space in 15th Century History: A great fire turns bare land into a space for the people and an icon of Western Russia. Sights: Embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin, one of the world’s greatest leaders Where It’s At Red Square, that familiar bricked expanse in the heart of Moscow is located just outside the Kremlin, along its Eastern Wall. The word ‘red’ doesn’t refer to the colour of the bricks or to Communism. In Russian, the square is called ‘Krasnaya Ploschad.’ The word Krasnaya means both ‘red’ & ‘beautiful,’ and the latter, referring to St. Basil’s Cathedral at the southern end of the square. The cathedral is also the place where the 20th Century Red Army paraded its tanks and missiles to impress its leaders and frighten the world.

When the great fire of 1493 laid bare a vast area between the Kremlin and the city Torg (Mart), the square was left vacant and was turned into a market centre. At first, the site of the future square was called the Pozhar (Burnt-Out Place). The Red Square of today is more than 500,000 square feet of open land. It’s a place where people gather to celebrate official state events, to be photographed in front of favourite sites, or just to drink in the historic splendour. Meeting Lenin On the western edge of Red Square, nestled up against the exterior of the Kremlin wall, stands a monument to the founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin’s Mausoleum. Following his death, in 1924, Lenin’s embalmed body was placed in a temporary wooden mausoleum after government offices were flooded with telegrams requesting the construction of a shrine to the illustrious revolutionary. Although Lenin had clearly indicated his desire not to be immortalised, the temporary structure was replaced in 1929 with the granite and black labradorite version seen today.

Each year, thousands of people line up for the opportunity to view Lenin on his glass-enclosed bier and to watch the hourly ritual of the changing of the guard. By Susi O’Neill Related Content Explorers of the Arctic Apart from a rich wildlife, Spitsbergen has also played a very important role in the history of Arctic exploration, and at various places on the islands it’s... Best of Russia --- Architecture --- Kremlin kremlin | kolomenskoe | novodevichy | peterhof | winter palace Across the vast land of Russia are scattered a numerous number of large cities and small towns where legendary buildings are dating back from the long past. Although much of the invaluable property of the country has been lost, there still remain more than forty thousand officially-recorded historic sites. These historic places vividly demonstrate architectural talents of Russians. The historic, architectural and artistic heritage is the glory and pride of Russia. For most of its history, Russian architecture has been predominantly religious. Russia's most characteristic architectural feature is its onion-domed churches, which evolved when the wooden churches of the north were translated into brick and colourful tilework.

Churches were for centuries the only buildings to be constructed of stone, and today they are almost the only buildings that remain from its ancient past. The basic elements of Russian church design emerged fairly early, around the eleventh century. Only a few places in the world are destined to become a kind of symbol. One of them is Red Square in Moscow , a symbol of great emotive power. Although the square itself is not very big (695 metres long and 130 metres wide), it impresses one by the richness and variety of its forms which merge in austere harmony. The ensemble is dominated by the Kremlin and the Lenin Mausoleum which stands by its walls. The powerful tent roofs of the Saviour and St. Nicholas towers emphasize the key position of this memorial which links the old ensemble with the present day. Kremlin is the Russian word for citadel, and that's exactly what the Moscow Kremlin was: a medieval walled city on a hill above the Moscow River. Long ago, of course, the city grew far beyond the walls, but the citadel remained the seat of a government.

For the last eight centuries the Moscow Kremlin (or Kremle) was the witness of many glorious and tragicevents of our history. There are explosions of hostile guns, celebration of holidays and boiling ofriots near the Kremlin walls. Now the Moscow Kremlin is one of the greatest museums of the world.The Kremlin palaces and chambers are keeping the state regalia, invaluable icons and treasures of the tsars. View of the Red Square: Saviour Tower and Intercession Cathedral. As ancient chronicles assert, the Red Square appeared at the end of 15th century, when Ivan III ordered to ruin all wooden buildings, surrounding the Kremlin and threatening with the fire, and to allot this area for a market. In Russia the same object might have several names. Thus, The Red Square was officially given its modern name in 19th century, though the name was mentioned in the documents of 17th century. Different centuries left their traces:15th century gave the Kremlin's Wall with Spasskaya, Senatskaya and Nikolskaya towers; 16th - Place of execution.

(Lobnoe mesto), and the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed; 19th century - the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, the building of Historical museum and Upper Trade Rows (GUM), 20th century - Lenin's Mausoleum. The word "red" doesn't refer to the color of the bricks or to Communism. In Russian, the square is called "Krasnaya Ploschad". The word "krasnaya" means both "red" and "beautiful," and the latter, referring to St. Basil's Cathedral at the southern end of the square, was the original meaning. St. Basil's is once again being used for religious services, but one can still tour the inside, where the walls are decorated with antique icons. The most famous and important of the old Russia'a memorial buildings, the Intercession Cathedral (also called the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed) was erected in 1555-61 to commemorate the great Russian conquest of the Khanate of Kazan. It was a kind of memorial to all those who had perished in the long struggle to liberate the Russian land from foreign overlordship.

And it was built by two fine self-taught masters, Postnik and Barma.This "fairy-tale in stone" has delighted people with its unique forms and colours. Before the extra tiers were added to the Ivan the Great Bell-Tower, the Intercession Cathedral was the tallest building in Moscow (65 metres). Kremlin. Close-up of the Intercession Cathedral. For more than four centuries this remarkable edifice has survived numerous fires, natural disasters and enemy invasions to delight and astound all who look upon it. Once the courage of the architect and devotee of Russian culture, P. Baranovsky, saved the church. When ordered to prepare the cathedral for destruction he refused and threatened to cut his own throat on the steps of the church, then sent a bluntly worded telegram to the leader of the party himself relating the above. For some reason Stalin cancelled the decision to knock the church down and for his efforts Baranovsky was rewarded with five years in jail. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the tallest structure in the Kremlin (81 m or 266 ft). It was built in 1505-08.

From the top of the tower, the view extends for some 40 km (25 miles), so it was a strategic watch tower. There are 329 steps to the top. The Bell Tower and belfry still carry 21 bells which are remarkable creations of Russian foundry art. When retreating from Moscow in 1812, Napoleon ordered the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great to be blown up, but the magnificent structure withstood the blast and only the contiguous belfries were destroyed. In 1814-1815, the entire ensemble was restored. The 70 m (230 ft) high Saviour Tower is the most magnificent of the Kremlin towers, the very symbol and emblem of Moscow. From time immemorial it has been thep rincipal entrance to the Kremlin. The tower was given its name in 1658, when an iconof Christ was set up over the entrance. Before the October Revolution , men were required to take their hats off when passing through the gate. The first clock was set into the tower in the 16th century. Subsequently, the clock'smechanism has been changed repeatedly.

Thegigantic mechanism (about 25 tons) of the carillon occupies three storeys of the tower. Until the October Revolution the carillon played the tsaristnational anthem, and between 1917 and 1941 it played the "Internationale".The clock now only strikes the hours. The ruby star was installed in 1937. Kremlin. This icon is painted on the ceiling of South Galery of The Cathedral of the Annunciation. The Cathedral of the Annunciation, with its nine gilded domes, is the smallest of the three main Kremlin cathedrals, but the decoration of the interior (in particular the frescoes and icons by Andrei Rublev and Feofan Grek) makesit one of the great treasures of Moscow. The cathedral was built in 1484-89 by a team of buildersfrom Pskov as the court church of Grand Prince Ivan III. It was connected by a passage at the gallery level with the palace of the grand prince and laterwith the tsar's residence. The passage still leads from the gallery into the Great Kremlin Palace, which immediately adjoins the cathedral.

The Kazan Cathedral, August 2002 The original Kazan Cathedral was built in 1636 in honor of the Kazanskaya Icon and to commemorate Tsar Mikhail Romanov's victory over the Poles and Lithuanians in 1612. The Kazanskaya Icon is one of the city's most precious icons and was discovered by a 9-year-old girl, to whom legend has it the Virgin Mary appeared three times in dreams to tell her of the miracle-working icon's location. Unfortunately, like most of the churches in Moscow, Kazan Cathedral was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, ironically on the very same day in 1936 that the church was meant to celebrate its 300th anniversary. If it has not been for the courageous efforts of the architect Baranovsky, who was also responsible for saving St. Basil's Cathedral from destruction and who made secret plans of Kazan Cathedral even as the building was being torn down, there would be no replica standing on the site today. Once the church had been demolished, various structures were erected on the site, including a street cafe and a public washroom.

In November 1990 the Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II laid the cathedral's foundation stone and three years later, re-consecrated the newly built church. Today, Kazan Cathedral boasts a pink and white exterior replete with the ornate window frames and gables characteristic of early Muscovite church architecture, and crowned by a cluster of green and gold domes. The church was re-opened on November 4th 1993 on the celebration day of the Icon of Kazan and has been hosting regular services ever since. The history of the State Repository of Values (Gokhran) - the vaults beneath the Kremlin, the country's biggest state secret. The secret was thoroughly guarded for more than 70 years. All Gokhran's documents were strictly classified. No more than 10 persons knew the exact amount of values kept in Gokhran. The history of creation of Gokhran was kept secret too - it incorporates too much human tragedy and drama. Kremlin. Saviour Tower and Intercession Cathedral.

The Uspensky Sobor, or the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin, (sometimes called the Assumption Cathedral), is the largest and the most historic of the cathedrals in the Kremlin. Here princes, grand princes and tsars were crowned by the metropolitan or patriarch; here metropolitans and patriarchs were enthroned and buried, and here many a chapter in the history of Moscow and of Russia began or was concluded. Built during 1158 - 1479, Assumption Cathedral combined traditional Russian Orthodox building techniques with ideas from the Italian Renaissance. The Cathedral of the Assumption is still the dominant part of the city's skyline. Standing on the steep left bank of the river, the cathedral is visible from a great distance to anyone coming from Murom. Up to four thousand people could gather inside it. At door level are the icon of the Savior with the fiery or severe eye (14thc.), the Dormition of the Virgin, and a copy of the old testament Trinity. To the left of the Royal Door is a copy of the revered Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1812 the cathedral was occupied by Napoleon's Army, who used some of the icons for firewood, and tried to carry off some 250 kg (550 pounds) of gold and five tons of silver. Most of it was abandoned during their retreat and was recovered and returned to the cathedral. The Archangel Cathedral, built in 1505-08 by Alevis Novi, was the burial church of the tsars. Here all the Russian princes, grandprinces and tsars from Ivan Kalita onwards had their last resting-place. Unlike the other Kremlin cathedrals, the Cathedral of the Archangel has silver domes, apart from the recently gilded central dome. Though built at the eginning of the 16th century, the Archangel Cathedral was painted only in the second half of that century. Only part of this painting has survived - in the altar and on the west portal. In 1652-66, a large team of artists from Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and Vologda painted the cathedral's frescoes, repeating the motifs of the sixteenth century painting. Kremlin. View of the Archangel Cathedral.

The Arsenal was built between 1702 and 1736, with some interruptions in the work. The general plan of the building was sketched out by Peter the Great himself; The Arsenal was partly destroyed by fire in 1737, and was reconstructed in 1786-96 by the engineer Gerard. It was given its present aspect between 1815 and 1828, after the French attempts to blow up the Kremlin before abandoning Moscow made radical rebuilding necessary. After the rebuilding it was intended that the Arsenal would be used as an army museum: hence the 875 cannon lining the outside walls. The stucco reliefs of military trophies on the walls reflect the same intention. The Tsar Cannon is an interesting specimen of sixteenth century foundry work. It was cast of bronze in 1586 by the Russian master Andrei Shchokhov. It weighs nearly 40 tons and has a barrel 5.34 m (17 ft) long and a bore of 890 mm (35 in). This is the largest bore of any cannon in the world. The cannon balls weigh a ton each.

Opposite the Arsenal, on the edge of Senate Square, stands the imposing Neoclassical Senate building. The building was commissioned by Empress Catherine the Great to house meetings of the Moscow branch of the Senate, an advisory body that she had set up in 1711, and has been the official residence of the Russian President since 1991. After its construction, the commandant of the Kremlin doubted the stability of the building's large green dome, which is clearly visible from Red Square, and the architect was forced to climb up onto the cupola and stay there for more than an hour before he was convinced of its integrity. The cupola sits above the building's impressive grand hall, which was used formerly for meetings of the USSR Council of Ministers. The building also used to contain the former quarters of Lenin and Stalin's study, under which a secret passage was discovered that may have enabled the Director of the Secret Police, Beria, to overhear the dictator's conversations.

The Senate Building looks onto Senate Square, where in February 1905 the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev, a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, threw a bomb at the carriage in which the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II , Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, was traveling. Walls of Kremlin. View of the Moscow River. The Konstantino-Yeleninskaya Tower served as the Kremlin torture chamber in medieval times and stands on the site of the white-stone Timofeyev Tower, through whose gates Dmitry Donskoy led his troops in 1380 to the historic battle of Kulikovo against the Mongol and Tartar armies. The Lobnoye Mesto, a circular stone platform on Red Square not far from St. Basil's Cathedral, was built in the early 16th century and used primarily as a platform from which the Tsar's edicts were read out, special church sermons were given and the sentences of convicted criminals were aired. The platform's name derives from its location, on a steep slope or "uzlobie" in Russian. In Orthodox Moscow this place symbolized the hill of Golgotha in Jerusalem, on which Christ was crucified.

In translation from the ancient Hebrew Golgotha means "lob", head or forehead, hence the connection. Raised platform (Lobnoe Mesto) in Red Square once used for public executions. Lobnoye Mesto was also a place where holy relics were displayed so that the people of Moscow could honor them, where the boyars Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuisky were proclaimed Tsar and where the heir to the throne was traditionally carried on his 14th birthday, so that the people could see their future Tsar and not allow an impostor to assume the throne. The platform was also the site from which Ivan the Terrible begged for the peoples' forgiveness in 1547, after Moscow was almost completely destroyed by a fire that the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church pronounced to be God's punishment for his barbaric actions. It is a common misconception that the Lobnoye Mesto was the square's execution site, but most executions were in fact carried out on the slope behind St. Basil's. In the small garden outside St.

Basil's stands an impressive bronze Statue to Minin and Pozharsky, who rallied Russia's volunteer army during the Time of Troubles and drove out the invading Polish forces. They were an interesting duo - Dmitry Pozharsky was a prince, while Kuzma Minin was a butcher from Nizhny Novgorod. For more information about Moscow Kremlin please check their official website . (English version of this site will be available soon)

Question: Which cathedral stands at the southern end of Red Square?
Answer: St. Basil's